How To Play Casino Games

Casino Games – rules & strategy

There are upwards of three hundred casino games at the top USA online gambling sites. Even more are being released all the time. Before you can make money and have fun you need to know the rules, how to play and learn some strategy. Here we tell you just that.

The main casino games are listed in alphabetical order. There is a concise summary of the rules of each on this page with a link to even more detail about a particular game.

Online Slots

Online slots come in all varieties. The chief benefits of playing slots online include the fact that the percentage payout is better than the land-based slots in the likes of Las Vegas or Atlantic City. In addition there is the convenience of having all the slots on your PC as well as the option of playing for massive progressive jackpots. Probably the most popular of all casino games, we give more detail about online slots in our guide below:How To Play Online Slots

Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the most-played casino games. Along with roulette, this simple card game is a major draw for gamblers around the globe. The primary aim is to get as close to 21 with your cards as possible. Hence the game is sometimes known by the sobriquet of ’21.’ When you get to grips with the concept of blackjack then you may find that description an over simplification.

While you need to beat the dealer by getting closer to 21 than he does, without busting yourself by going over 21, sometimes patience and sticking on low card values is the right move. You might stick on 14 and hope to bust the dealer by doing so. In this instance you are not really trying to get to 21. You are trying to leave high value cards to break the dealer and so win the hand.

This is one of the few casino games where it is possible to shift the odds in your favour and against the house. If you had a computer you could beat the odds, and people have done that. They are called ‘card counters,’ but that is a different story. Read our full guide on how to play online blackjack:How To Play Online Blackjack

Craps

Named from the French word for toad, craps has developed from the streets to one of the most popular casino games. Probably the best way to get to grips with this game, like so many, is to actually play it. But you do need some information first or it will be like joining some secret sect with its own indecipherable dialect.

There is a shooter. This is the person who throws two dice up against the back wall of the table. If you have never played craps you will have seen this scenario in a film at the very least! Now follow these rules closely, while taking a look at the provided image of a craps table.

To start a round the shooter throws the dice. The shooter must have placed a bet either on the ‘Pass Line’ or on the ‘Don’t Pass Line.’ If the dice roll totals two, three or twelve this is called a craps roll. This loses a pass bet. A seven or eleven wins a pass bet. If a 2, 3 or 12 is thrown (a craps roll) play stops and the round ends. Otherwise the round continues. The only other possible numbers are: four, five, six, eight, nine and ten. If any of these are thrown, in this most famous of casino games, then play continues.

Whichever of those last-named numbers was rolled establishes the ‘point’. The point is a number that must be rolled again to win bets BEFORE a seven is rolled. If a seven comes first then pass line bets lose. The pass line bets are paid out at odds of 1/1 ie: evens. You bet $10 you are paid out $10 profit ($20 returned to you). A ‘Don’t Pass Line’ bet is just the same but on the other side of events. So 2,3,12 will immediately lose a Pass Line bet but obviously it will immediately win a Don’t Pass Line bet. There are other types of wagers as well, but these are the main ones.

This is an easy game to get to grips with but one of the harder ones to explain in words rather than with actions. If anything has confused you just read this through again slowly while studying the craps table image and imagine the scenarios we have outlined unfolding on that green baize. Take your time to understand this most popular of casino games and craps will reward you with hours of thrills and entertainment, and hopefully a profit too.

Roulette

Everyone has heard of roulette, king of the casino games, even if not everybody has had a go. Put away your inhibitions as online roulette is fast, fun and furious. If you have never tried it then you must and if it fails to quicken your pulse, well book a place in the mortuary because you must be dead.

The game has a wheel, like the one pictured at the top of this page, and that wheel has either 37 (European) or 38 (American) slots. With the European wheel there are 36 numbers and one zero slot. In American there are two zeros.

The players are given coloured chips – a different colour for each. That is so when the table is covered in chips the colours denote who each chip belongs to. Each chip denotes a monetary value, say $1 or $5 each. The croupier spins the ball in the wheel and you spread your chips on the number(s) you want to bet on. The dealer shouts ‘no more bets’ as the ball begins to slow. If the ball falls in slot 32 Red and you have a chip on 32 Red then you get paid at odds of 35/1. So one chip on the winning number will reap another 35 chips profit.

That is the general concept of how roulette is played in a nutshell. Like the best casino games it is extremely simple. It was invented in the 1700s by the French. Can you guess what roulette means in that language? ‘Small wheel’. Everything about the game is simple! If you want to know more then read our full guide to online roulette:How To Play Online Roulette

Keno

Keno is similar to picking numbers in a lottery. If you like bingo you might also enjoy playing online keno as you pick your numbers and then hope as many as possible of them are chosen when the game or ‘race’ begins. Follow the link below for full details of how to play this very famous and popular casino game:How To Play Online Keno

Baccarat

If you like Blackjack you ought to give Baccarat a go. It has the same appeal and is great fun. In Baccarat a player’s hand plays against a banker’s hand. Anyone can bet on the outcome. The hand nearest to nine wins the round or ‘coup’. There are three betting options you can choose between: the player’s hand to win, the banker’s hand to win, a tie. Learn how to play this most popular and enjoyable of casino card games. Get the full story:How To Play Online Baccarat